France is going to miss the euro targets (deficit of 3% of GDP) for the third straight year. I think this pretty much puts paid to the notion that there should ever be any sanctions on a member state for breaching the Stability Pact.
There is no way France can argue that they have taken "immediate corrective action" to get their budget back in line. So, the Stability Pact is really just a strong suggestion and not a set of rules that must be obeyed. I think that's probably a good idea, but why make such a big deal about it if the Pact had no real meaning? How do the Germans - supposedly so fearful of inflation - accept this?
